Royals on the Farm 9/5

AA - Wichita: Wranglers 2, Tulsa 1 (11, Wranglers lead best-of-5 series 1-0)

3B Gordon 0-5, 2 K -- .000, ignominious playoff debut
2B Murphy 3-5, 2B, K, RS, E (1) -- .600
LF Lubanski 1-5, 2 K -- .200, maybe he can get back to his '05 playoff raking
CF Maier 1-5, 2 K, picked off -- .200
1B Kaaihue 2-4, BB, 2B, K -- .500, both hits were clutch
DH D. Brown 1-4, BB, 2 K, RS -- .250
SS Sanchez 1-5, 2 RBI (2) -- .200, clutch hit in 9th

Greinke 6 IP, ER, 5 H, 6 K, HRA -- ND, 1.50 ERA, another HR allowed
Musser, DeHoyos and Lowery -- 5 IP scoreless relief -- DeHoyos gets win, Lowery save

*** The Wranglers had to rally in the 9th to force extras after getting 3-hit over 7 IP by Tulsa SP Juan Morillo and posted another run in the 11th to get the win. Wichita stranded 2 runners in both the 2nd and 4th and Tulsa scored its only run in the 5th on a solo homer by C Alvin Colina off Zack Greinke to make it 1-0. Twelve straight Wranglers went down from 1 out in the 4th to 1 out in the 8th but Wichita stranded 2 more runners in the 8th to go into their last at-bats still down by a run. That was after Neal Musser worked out of a runner at third and 1 out situation in the 8th. The rally came after Dee Brown struck out to lead off the 9th. Singles by Donnie Murphy and Kila Kaaihue were followed by a clutch RBI single from Angel Sanchez to tie the game. Two pop outs kept Wichita from taking the lead, tho, and the game went into extra innings. The Drillers got a runner to third with 2 outs off Gabe DeHoyos in the 10th but a ground out ended the inning. Brown led off the Wichita 11th with a single and advanced to third on a Kaaihue double with 1 out. Sanchez again got the RBI with a ground out that scored Brown to make it 2-1. Devon Lowery got 2 Ks and a pop out in Tulsa's half to end the game. Morillo struck out 10 with 2 walks to pick up a no-decision for the Drillers (AA Rockies), Colina was 2-3 with the HR, 2B Christian Colonel was 2-5 and 1B Joe Koshansky was 0-5 with 4 K.

Tyler Lumsden takes the mound for Wichita vs. Tulsa SP Marc Kaiser in game 2 Wednesday night. Corpus Christi pitchers 2-hit Midland in a 3-0 Game 1 win Tuesday in the other TL playoff series. In other news, the Springdale, Ark., city council approved the contract with Wranglers owners and it looks like plans are set for Wichita to move for the 2008 season.

High-A - High Desert: off day before playoffs

*** The Mavs take on the Lake Elsinore Storm (High-A Padres) in a best-of-3 Cal League playoff quarterfinal series starting Wednesday night. Danny Christensen starts game 1 for HD. LE took the season series 12-10 with 7 games decided by 1 run, so it should be a good series.

Rookie - Idaho Falls: Ogden 8, Chukars 0

2B Mertins 2-3, BB, SB (25), picked off twice -- .341
RF Gonzalez 2-4, 2B (10), SB (24), CS (6) -- .279
CF Dickerson 1-4, K -- .283
LF Van Stratten 0-3, HBP -- .294
3B Morizio 0-3, BB, K, E (2) -- .250

Gutierrez 5 IP, 5 R (3 ER), 7 H, 3 K, HRA, E (4) -- L, 0-4, 6.57 ERA

*** The Chukars got shut out by Ogden pitchers on only 6 hits in game 1 of a meaningless 3-game set with the Raptors. IF stranded 2 runners in the 1st and Ogden got on the board in the 2nd off Dan Gutierrez and again in the 4th thanks in part to a Gutierrez throwing error. Gutierrez gave up a 3-run homer in the 5th to make it 5-0. The Chukars got 2 on with none out in the 6th but O.D. Gonzalez was caught trying to steal home on a double steal with Kurt Mertins and then Mertins was picked off at second so the runners vanished without any fault by Chukar batters. RP Bryan Casey gave up 3 gravy runs to Ogden in the 8th on 3 walks and 3 base hits. IF is 17-19 and has clinched a wild-card playoff spot with 2 games left with Ogden to end the regular season. Ogden SP Jesus Castillo went 7 IP and allowed 4 hits and 2 walks with 4 K to improve to 2-5 with a 2.88 ERA, CF Thomas Giles was 3-5 with his 5th homer and 4 RBI (23) to move to .302 and 3B Josh Bell was 3-5 with his 53rd RBI and 2 E (17) to move to .305.

The series continues Wednesday night. No announced starters. The best-of-3 South division playoff set with the Orem Owlz (Rookie Angels) starts Friday in IF. It's nice to have 3 organizational teams headed to the playoffs. That's up from 1 last season.